Maintenance Evaluation

Definition

Maintenance evaluation is the quality control task during which the maintenance work products are evaluated.

Objectives

The typical objectives of the maintenance evaluation task are to:

• Determine if the deliverable maintenance work products are:
  • Correct.
  • Complete.
  • Consistent (internally, externally with other work products, and externally with related conventions).
  • Understandable.
• Identify defects in the deliverable maintenance work products so that:
  • The defects can be fixed.
  • Defect trend analysis can be performed to improve the process and staff training.
• Determine if the maintenance engineering tasks are:
  • Completed.
  • Effective.
  • Efficient.

Preconditions

The maintenance evaluation task can typically begin when the following preconditions hold:

• The maintenance inspection team is adequately:
  • Staffed.
  • Trained in the maintenance evaluation task.
  • Trained in its associated techniques (e.g., inspection).
• At least one maintenance engineering work product is ready for evaluation.

Completion Criteria

The maintenance evaluation task is typically complete when the following postconditions hold:

• The following maintenance work products have passed their evaluations (e.g., inspection):
  • Maintenance Plan

Steps

The maintenance evaluation task typically involves the following teams performing the following steps:

• The maintenance team informally evaluates their work products in accordance with the associated technique(s) used.
• The maintenance inspection teamformally evaluates these maintenance work products in accordance with the associated technique(s) used.

Techniques

The maintenance evaluation task can typically be performed using the following techniques:

• Quality Evaluation Techniques:
  • Desk Checking
  • Demonstration
  • Inspecting
  • Walkthroughs

Work Products

The maintenance evaluation task typically results in the production of the following work products:

• Quality Set:
  • Inspection Report
  • Inspection Summary Report

Guidelines

• Inspecting tends to be the most effective quality evaluation technique for identifying defects.
• Evaluations can be incremental and are typically iterative.